This is the question that struck me today. How did we get here? How did it happen that a once peaceful country like Nigeria has lost sleep? This didn’t happen suddenly, nor did we see it coming. It quietly crept in on us. Why was it not nipped at the bud? Because the authorities thought that it was just a passing phase, something that did not deserve their attention, and so it grew, and grew, until it is now out of control.

It is indeed true that when a country like America sneezes, countries like Nigeria will develop diarrhea. When America went into recession starting from the events of 911, America found herself in a hole she is still crawling out of; the whole world suffered the repercussions of this recession. Nigeria was worse of, being a developing country. The events in Nigeria took a nasty turn with the degradation of education at all levels, but especially at the tertiary level. The saying that when the head is affected, the whole body suffers ran true here. Education in Nigeria is still at a cross-road.

With education going downhill, every other aspect of the society followed suite. People with little or no education, and people with dubious qualifications were vying and getting positions for which they were not qualified through what is known as the “who know who” syndrome ….
(To be continued).